Facebook Likes Suck, Focus On Authentic Customers Not Likes

Are you a small business that is mind boggled by dozens of social media sites vying for your time?

It feels like everyday there is a new social media App or website that wants your businesses attention and that of your clients. Let’s focus on Facebook specifically, this lesson is applicable to other social networks too.

Facebook page posts are not being show as much today as they did in years past. Your fan ROI is dropping off a cliff.

Are you spending time asking  people, existing customers or potential customers to “Like Us” on Facebook? You are not alone, for years Facebook has attracted businesses to their platform with the intention of letting the business access their huge user base. Facebook has over 1.4 billion registered accounts in 2015, it’s a market that can’t be ignored.

The idea, build a fanpage, promote your page and they will come. That was awesome for Facebook, with every business in town promoting Facebook, and their fan page. Many compaies ran TV commercials and only promoted Facebook, neglecting to show their website (Toyota.com). This was an effort for businesses to grow their Facebook page and then post about their products and reap the future “free views”.

Nothing in life is free.

You have full control of YourBusiness.com. If you have 1000 or 100,000 Facebook fans, tomorrow those could be obsolete.  Think AOL or Myspace, gone. After each platform comes and goes, but you still have the website that your business revolves around. Client list and email subscribers are owned by your business, not Facebook.

In 2015 organic (unpaid) Facebook posts continue a downward path to zero, showing up less and less in users newsfeed.

FULL Report HERE at Ogilvy 

Facebook is a publicly traded company (FB), so they need to return a profit to their investors. The Facebook algorithm that delivers posts in your news feed needs to create revenue. Paid posts by companies continue to receive a higher share of space compared to unpaid organic posts from the Facebook pages you like.

It’s that simple, paid posts are given VIP access, organic posts are fading away. Maybe extinct?

What can you do?

1. Pay for ads and ultimately point them to your website and convert them to a sale. Grow you brand and nurture leads at your website. If people really care, they can follow you on Facebook, but the priority is providing value and selling them your goods.
2. Don’t neglect your business site. Social media complements your business, so don’t let it become the center of your business and cry with an algorithm changes, killing your organic social media posts overnight.

ALWAYS build your business website, publish great content, collect emails and nurture leads. Convert buyers into fans because they love your product, that’s authentic, versus buying likes without a defined goal.

All of the social networks are feeders, so leverage their user base to build your business audience. You should always focus on refinement of converting website visitors into buyers/customers.

Last Minute Note as this post was getting posted.

Facebook is testing fully integrated purchases within their platform. You need to sell where customers are, but keep your branding in mind (READ). You want customers to remember the product is your brand, not some “facebook” generic purchase.

The main take away!

You do not own Facebook and those fans/likes. Your business website is then center of your business universe, not a social network that can change and you lose your followers overnight. You OWN YOUR WEBSITE so take control of it.

If you need business consulting and a social media strategy, contact Next Channel Media today.